


Chosen Tributes

by FlamingPhoenix7



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 03:10:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15110588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlamingPhoenix7/pseuds/FlamingPhoenix7
Summary: Katniss made her way out of the forest with a bag of freshly hunted food. When suddenly, a body of a child came into view. She decided to help him, and till now she still hasn't regretted it.Years later the both of them stood with the crowd of children in the reaping, praying that none of them will get chosen, but of course, when was the odds ever in their favour?Not a Katniss/Harry pairing.





	1. The Boy in the Woods

**This is a Harry Potter and Hunger Games crossover. It is about Harry appearing in the woods one day and Katniss finding him. I really hope you guys will enjoy this! My updates won't be too frequent but I still hope that you'll still enjoy this.**

**Not a Katniss/Harry pairing.**

**OoOoO**

** Chp. 1 – The Boy in the Woods **

Katniss made her way out the woods with a pack full of the animals she had collected from the snares she and Gale placed the day before and the ones she caught. Since the time she started hunting, which was only a few months ago, till now, this was the best catch she and Gale ever had. Gale wasn't available today due to Posy being sick, so he had to take care of her, that way their mother could go to work.

Half way through her journey back to the fence, she saw a small form on the ground. It was too small to be Gale's and she knew no one else who's daring enough to sneak into the woods not to mention this deep into the woods. Not recognising the form, she drew her bow slowly and went to inspect the person.

It was a kid, not much younger than her. His eyes were closed, but Katniss could make out his messy jet black hair and rounded glasses. His clothes almost three times too big for him hung loosely on him. She had never seen him before in District 12, but he doesn't seem like a Capitol citizen either, so she decided that it was probably okay to approach the kid. She did not lower her guard, however, she did change her bow for her knife.

She went closer to him, then nudged him. Jumping away when the boy moved. She drew her bow again as the boy's eyes slowly flicker open as if waking up from a long sleep. Katniss had to say that, the colour of his eyes were beautiful, the most striking of the boy himself. The green was so bright, like the greenest leaves, even that doesn't truly describe the colour.

When he was finally aware of his surroundings, their eyes landed on each other. His eyes widen at the look of her bow and he backed up a bit, but he lost his balancing and fell. Seeing he wasn't going to attack her, she lowered her bow.

"Who are you?" The boy asked, she stayed silent, but his strange accent didn't escape her. It didn't sound like the Capitol's, or anything else, so that confused her. She didn't question it though, she just stayed silent.

After realising that she wasn't going to tell him her name, he asked: "Where am I?"

Katniss searched his eyes for any form of lies, but it only showed confusion and slight panic. Did he really not know where he is? Yet, she decided to answer. "You're in District 12."

"District 12?"

"Yes, District 12, Panem."

"I've never heard of Panem. Which continent is it in? Europe, America?"

Catching the word America, she remembered the speeches in Reapings, they mentioned that Panem used to be somewhere in North America. So she said, "It used to be in North America."

"Used? Was it kicked out or something?"

"No. Panem is what's left of North America."

Bewilderment filled his eyes. "What's left of North America?" He repeated, as if not quite catching what she had said.

"About 300 years ago, disasters struck and most of America sank underneath the water." She explained, she didn't even know why she was telling him all this. Why doesn't he know this? Does he not watch the reaping? Or is it just the fact that he doesn't listen to their speech. That should be it. But he doesn't even seem to know what District 12 is, or even Panem in this case.

"Three hundred years..." He whispered, probably to himself. "What about Europe? England?" He asked.

She shot him a questioning glance, not really understanding what he's asking. Europe? There had been nothing else accept Panem for years now. Is Europe some other place that had also sunk underneath the water? Or are they someplace else that somehow, by miracle also survived the disasters? "Panem is the only place left, there had not been any communications from the outside for years now."

"Years, as in-"

"As in from the disasters." He seemed to slump a bit. They stayed in silence for a few moments before he spoke up again.

"What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

He shrugged but answered, "I can't keep calling you 'her' or 'she' can I?"

Katniss stayed silent for a little while until she decided to answer "My name is Katniss, Katniss Everdeen."

He smiled at her slightly and said: "My name's Harry, Harry Potter."

**OoOoO**

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, the next will be longer, but I really do hope you're enjoying this. Go on to the next chapter! :)**

**Jane**  
  



	2. The Reaping

** Chp. 2 – The Reaping **

"Hey Katniss, catch!" A voice came behind her, and she turned around just in time to see a dead squirrel flying towards her and caught it just before it hit her face.

"Nice catch!" Standing on the tree branch behind her was her honorary brother that she 'saved' almost four years ago.

"You've gotten better at your reflexes." He commented with a slight grin on his face.

"Yea, you tend to get better when people throw dead animals at you when you least expect it, for how many years now? Oh yeah, three!"

"Hey, you can't blame me! It's a nice skill to have!" He gave her a pointed look.

It took some time to warm up to him, after she 'saved' him, as he kept insisting. He explained that he's from Europe, England. That he's from the past. Of course, Katniss didn't believe him, nobody can travel through time. He didn't believe how he did do it either. The last thing he knew was falling asleep. She asked him about his family and he said that his parents died when he was only a year old and his uncle and aunt took care of him. He didn't like them though.

Somehow he was also injured, so she did the first thing that came to mind, she took him to her mother. The cut was on his arm, it wasn't a life or death situation, but it was deep enough to need someone to look over.

Because he didn't have anywhere else to go. Prim begged her and their mother that they should help him by keeping him and giving him a place to stay when he was asleep. They were slightly hesitant, but at the end, she and her mother finally agreed. Even if it took a little while to warm up to him, Katniss still haven't regretted it.

He can do a lot of chores to help out but the best thing was, he was a good hunter. He could climb, he was silent and sneaky, so he can catch an animal without scaring it away, and his aim was good, he could use her bow and still hit the animal in the head. But since she only has one bow, he learned to throw knives until he was as good as her with a bow. Plus, she had to say that she's impressed with him, he was a quick learner. It only took him a bit more than a year to perfect knives throwing, and that's when he started throwing dead animals at her.

The first time he did it, it hit her in the face and he and Gale spent time laughing it off, but after a while, she got used to it and it did help her. She did become quicker on her movements and caught every single time until he started jumping from trees to trees just to throw another dead animal at her, sometimes hidden, sometimes not. When he runs out of animals, he started throwing the nuts he picked from the trees he jumped to and after years of doing this, it became sort of like a game between the two them. He'll tell her to catch for the first time and the game starts. The silent rustling of the tree leaves or the slight creak of a branch was all she needs to know before a nut came flying towards her.

Usually, Gale just sits there and watch, but sometimes Harry includes him by also throwing nuts at him until he couldn't help but participate. Katniss knows that Harry feels like he owes the two of them. She didn't know why he felt like that but he did. Throughout the years the three had become closer until they were the only two who Katniss can open up to. Harry even went as far as taking two tesserae for Gale. Gale opposed to that but Harry insisted to help him and his family.

Hearing a faint cracking of a branch, she turned around just in time to catch a nut again, before Harry jumped down from the tree she was facing.

Today was the day of the reaping, even though they all tried to lighten up the mood, the tension was still there. This is Katniss's sixth reaping so only two more to go, while Harry has three more years. While for Gale, today was his last reaping, but the downside is that it was also Prim's first reaping. Katniss can't help but feel scared for her. She can't lose her. Her name was only in there once out of thousands of other tesserae, but her name is still in there.

Katniss remembered a time when they took Prim into the woods. Two incident happened then.

She was so preoccupied with Prim that she didn't notice a tree branch break. Harry and Gale were behind them picking plants until Katniss heard her name being shouted. She looked up and saw a large tree branch falling, there wasn't any time to think, she acted upon reflexes and used her body to cover Prim. Bracing for the hit, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she noticed a transparent light blue dome surrounding them. It scared her a lot, she nearly lost Prim or had her seriously injured, and after that situation, she became even more protective over her little sister.

The dome flickered and disappeared after a while but she noticed Harry looking at his hands bewildered. Gale stood there in shock, then turn to ask Harry "What was that?"

"I- I don't know." Harry was thirteen that time, he was as confused as the three of them. After that time, he tried it again, to make a shield. It worked. Katniss first thought that it was a Capitol's doing, but it didn't fit, so that possibility was ruled out until they finally accept that Harry had this strange power.

After years of practice, he could put up a shield easily and can shot some kind of energy that can knock animals out. That was all Katniss knew, but she also knows that there was more he could do but just didn't show them, for whatever reasons she didn't know. His secret was kept between them though. If it got out, he would probably become a Capitol experiment.

The three of them were silent as they made their way back to the fence. After separating their share evenly, they went back to their own house to prepare for the reaping. Katniss wore a light blue dress that reached over her knees, while prim was wearing a white dress with a blue ribbon tied around her waist. Harry was in a white shirt and pants like all the other boys. Katniss had her hair in a braid while Prim had two. There was nothing to do with Harry's hair, after years of trying to smooth it out, they finally gave up and accept that Harry's hair cannot flatten up. No matter how much they work on it, it will always stick out.

The four made their way towards the Justice Building before they were separated by the peacekeepers from their mother. Katniss stood with the other 16-year-old girls, looking around, she found Gale who was a few rows behind her and Harry who's just two rows in front. Prim stood with the 12-year-olds, away from them.

Katniss saw Harry looking at Prim worriedly, he loved Prim as much as she does. He too wanted to save Prim's innocence from the Hunger Games.

The Mayor stood up and gave a speech, the same one every year, before Effie Trinket, whose bright pink clothes and bubbly mood contrast against everyone else, trots onto the podium and said her signature "Happy Hunger Games!" As if anyone had ever been happy about it "And may the odds be  _ever_  in your favour!"

Everyone waited nervously as Effie walked toward the glass bowls filled with thousands of slips "Ladies first!" She said. Katniss could almost hear her heart as it thumps as Effie puts her hand in the bowl. Breaths were held as she smoother the slip of paper out and said "Primrose Everdeen!"


	3. The Tributes

** Chp. 3 – The Tributes **

Her heart stopped. Everything seemed to move too quickly for her liking. She saw Prim moving towards the podium. Harry was pushing everyone in his way just to reach her, and before she knew it, she too was doing that.

Pushing Prim behind her and Harry embraced her so she can't go anywhere, "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" Her voice was loud and clear. There was no mistaking what she said. She heard gasps behind her. She was the first to volunteer in District 12, but there's always a first to everything. "No! Katniss! No!" She heard Prim screamed.

Barely aware of what's happening, she walked onto the podium and stood beside Haymitch. "What's your name dear?" Effie asked.

"Katniss Everdeen." She was doing everything just to not break down, so she was really glad when her name came out steadily.

"Ah, that's your sister, isn't it? Didn't want her to take all the attention did you?" She stayed silent but she looked at Prim. She wasn't struggling against Harry anymore, but there was no question what was in her eyes, it was as clear as having the word written down, "why?"

Harry pulled her into a hug. From the distance, Katniss could still see the shaking form of Prim as she cried into Harry's clothes.

By volunteering, she seemed to become someone important to District 12, one by one, the crowd brought their three middle fingers to their lips and hold it out to her. The old sign of thanks, admiration and goodbye to someone you love.

Harry and Prim were taken back to their positions before Effie started to pull out another slip of paper from the boys' bowl. "Harry Potter!"

There was no way, what were the odds of two of the same family being reaped into the Hunger Games. Harry wasn't blood-related to her but he might as well be.

Prim let out a heart-shattering scream before she broke down again. This time it was Gale was the one who reached her.

That's when it dawned on Katniss, only one could make it back. District 12 has never been known for winning the Hunger Games and even if they do, there was no way the both of them would make it back. She felt Harry standing beside her. She took a look at him and saw nothing. He wasn't giving away anything in front of the cameras. They both stood there, as the ceremony come to a close with the national anthem playing.

She and Harry didn't speak to each other as they were lead to different rooms to say goodbye, but their eyes met for a second, but that was all she needed to know that they had to stay strong just for now. Just for their family's sake. Prim was the first to run into her arms when the door opened. She was crying so much, but she quickly composed herself enough to say her goodbye "Katniss. Come back, please. Bring Harry back with you. Just come back... The both of you. But you must come back! Promise me that Katniss. Promise me you'll come back home... to me..."

That was a promise she can't keep, yet she replied: "I'll try." Just to cheer her sister up a bit. She hugged her sister tighter, she didn't ever want to let go. There was no need for words between them, so they spent all their time like that until it was time for Prim to leave, she said "I love you Prim. I love you so, so much. Please take care. I love you." She was never one for fluffy 'I love you's but she had to say that to Prim, there was no way she would live the last days of her life without passing the message.

Prim only had the time before she was snatched out of her arms to say "I love you too!" Before the door closed one more time after her. The next person to come in was her mother. They also embraced in silence until her mother broke it. "I know I haven't been the best mother, but I want you to know I do love you. Please... take care."

"I will, but just promise me this, please, just be there for Prim, she needs you now, more than ever. Just take care of her." They stood in silence once more until their times was out and her mother walked out.

It took only 30 seconds for Gale to come in and take her mother's place "I shouldn't have let him taken the tesserae for me."

"Have you met with him yet?" She knew that Gale and Harry were as close as she to him. Since the both of them were boys they were probably closer.

"Yes, but he insisted it was his choice and that, that slip of paper probably won't even be from the tesserae."

"I agree with him, don't blame yourself too much though. Promise me, that you'll take care of my family? Especially Prim."

He took her into his arms and said "I promise. I'm not going to pretend that everything's going to be okay. I know that this might be the last time I see you, face to face. So please just stay safe all right. Just... take care. Go in, find a bow. That will increase your chance of survival. You could hunt, you aim is brilliant, you and Harry have a chance of surviving!" The fact that only one could come back hung in silence, but no one wanted to face the reality so it was never mentioned.

"I don't even know if they'll have a bow."

"Show them what you could do, I'm ready to bet that a bow will be in the Cornucopia. If not, you could make one, a weak bow is better than no bow at all." Katniss merely nodded.

All too soon, the peacekeepers came and took Gale away, but before the door closed, she told him "don't let them starve!"

"I won't! Remember I-" With that the door closed, but she never got to hear what Gale was about to say.

The last to come in was the Mayor's daughter, Madge Undersee. They weren't close friends, but it warms Katniss a bit to see her here. "Take care, Katniss. I know we weren't as close as you were to Gale or Harry, but I want you to know that I'm glad to be your friend." She unclipped the golden pin on her dress "I want you to keep this." She said, handing Katniss the pin. Now closely looking at it, she saw a Mockingjay.

"I can't-" Katniss began, handing the pin back to Madge, but Mage just pushed her hand away and said, "Take this with you into the arena, use it as your token, to remind you of home."

Looking at Madge once more, she nodded and let Madge take the pin and pin it onto her dress. They embraced for a short while until the peacekeepers opened the door again, signalling the end of their short meeting. "Bye Katniss, take care." Were her last words, before the door closed once more.

After few minutes with no one coming in, Effie came with Harry to take them to the train. Harry too had put himself into this unemotional state like her as the both of them went into a car that took them towards the train station.

Seeing the crowd of reporters and cameras, Katniss knew she had made the right choice of not crying. They entered the train with a last look at the crowd. They caught a glimpse of their family for the last time before the train sped off, and the view of District 12 became smaller and smaller.

Katniss still couldn't shake off the dreaded feeling that that was the last time she would see her home. She took one last backwards glance from the window with Harry before the two of them trailed behind Effie towards the dining room.

 


	4. Haymitch

** Chp. 4 -  ** ** Haymitch **

Katniss and Harry were led into the dining room. The train was so luxurious that it's hard to believe that that's how the Capitol people live every day. The amount of the food on the table could've fed their family for more than a week and this is only one meal. Effie was going on about something that no one was listening to, Haymitch was sprawled on his seat with another bottle of liquor in his hand.

The two of them ate as much as they could hold, but at the end, they had to stop before they burst. "At least you guys had manners! Unlike those last year was stuffing themselves like dogs!" Exclaimed Effie in the middle of their meal. As Harry finished before Katniss, he and sat patiently and waited for her to finish. After they waited for Haymitch to say something as their tutor, some tips about how to survive in the arena, but the problem was he didn't.

It wasn't until Effie left to do something did Harry spoke up "Are you not going to tell us what to do in the arena?"

"Survive as long as you can." Was his answer.

"Tips on survival?" Harry asked again, but Haymitch just took another swing from his bottle.

Now that guy is really pissing Katniss off. "Are you going to help us or not!?" Even with the sudden outburst, he barely spares a glance towards her direction.

Suddenly his bottle zoomed out of his reached as he was about to take another swing and flew to Harry's hand. "What the hell!" He looked at Harry and ask, "what was that?"

"Are you going to help us or not?"

He sent a glare at Harry's way before finally saying "Fine. Now explain."

"I was just born with it."

"Oh, that explains everything!" He said sarcastically. " You were born with this magical power to take something out of another person's hand without physically reaching them."

"Because 'survive as long as you can' explains everything." Harry returned with the same amount of sarcasm, still holding to the bottle of liquor.

"You explain first then."

"I am trusting you with this information to not leak outside this room. Not many people know of my 'special power', or else I would probably be turned into some kind of lab experiment of the Capitol if this goes out." Harry's gaze bore into Haymitch, daring him, but Haymitch barely nodded. "I am telling you this because you are my tutor and you can help us with it. I will not use it unless it is an emergency." Haymitch nodded again.

"Well, when I was about eleven. I woke up in the forest outside District 12. The last thing I remembered was I was in my Aunt and Uncle's house, sleeping." Harry looked at Haymitch to see if he was catching up, seeing that he was, Harry continued, "I woke up with Katniss pointing her bow at me." Haymitch's eyebrows rose a bit at the mention of Katniss but didn't question it. "She told me I was in District 12, Panem. There was no Panem where I came from, according to her a disaster struck about 300 years ago, and the other places had sunk underwater." Katniss didn't comment so far, but she met his eyes and gave him a nod. "I came from Europe, England, 1991."

That did it, "1991? That's impossible. No one can travel through time, even with the technology we have now, we still can't travel in time. Not to mention almost 400 years away. " Exclaimed Haymitch.

"The thing is, I did. In 1991, America is still there, it is not Panem. There is New York, Florida, Texas, all the cities, states of America was still there. Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the continents, they were still there. I can even tell you the box TV we had, even the TV in District 12 is better quality than we had at that time. I don't have any physical proof I can show you that I have travelled in time, I don't even know myself if I had travelled in time or somehow ended up in another dimension like the science fiction books they had in school."

"Why should I trust you? How would I know that you're telling the truth and you're not just some kid that lives in this crazy fantasy of his?"

"You don't have to. I'm just telling you where I was from. If you chose not to believe me, then do that. But you have the proof of what I can do." Harry replied calmly.

"What was the thing you did? How did you do it?"

Harry slowly levitated the bottle above his hand and had it float back towards its owner, and replied with a one-word answer " _Magic_."

The bewilderment of Haymitch's face could've had Katniss laughing her head off, but it seemed inappropriate to laugh at such a serious moment. There was a moment of silence until Effie came walking back, asking "Did I miss anything special?"

Since Harry or Haymitch didn't seem like they were going to answer, Katniss said, "No, we were just about to start dessert."

After another few minutes of dessert and Haymitch trying to grasp everything that they had told him, he finally asked, "What are you really capable of?" Not needing to say it out loud, they knew that he was speaking about their trip to the woods.

"Katniss could shoot with a bow and arrow. She has brilliant aim and she also works well with knives." Harry replied for Katniss.

"Harry also has good aim and can use knives and bows as well as I could."

"I'll take your word on this, but know this, when you start your training do not show them what you've got. Sometimes the element of surprise can help you much more than brute force." Katniss and Harry merely nodded, understanding his strategy. "In training, try things that you normally won't do, let them underestimate you. In the Arena, do  _not_  stay for the bloodbath. Run as far as you could, find shelter and water so you could survive." The both of them nodded again. "There, there's not much I could tell you but  _stay alive_."

 


	5. The Capitol

** Chp. 5 - The Capitol **

Katniss looked out the window as the Capitol buildings came into view, it was a nice sight, the city was as beautiful as it was on the television, if not even better. Though the view would've been better in a different situation. 

Capitol citizens littered the building balconies and floors, welcoming them into their city, looking at them like some caged animals in zoos, cheering for entertainment. The thought itself made Katniss sick in the stomach, seeking entertainment in children killing each other. 

She and Harry plastered fake smiles and waved to the Capitol from the window of the train as they came slowly made their way to the train station. The citizens don't even look human, more like plastic dolls. There was one with green skin, another with cat ears and whiskers, one with zebra striped skin. How they waste all this money on useless surgery making them look ridiculous while people out there were starving and fighting for any scrap of food that can keep them and their family alive. 

It seemed to take forever but in reality, it was only a few minutes until they descended into the train station. "Thank god, all those horrendous colours are hurting my eyes," said Harry rubbing his eyes under his glasses. 

"I think I might throw up just looking at them," added Katniss. 

"Yea, who wants to have  _green_ skin!?" Before any of them can continue with their complaints on the Capitol's fashion the train stopped and the doors opened. The whole playful mood dissolved into a serious one, "You ready for this?" Harry asked her. 

"As well as I'll ever be killing others just as some sick entertainment." She said as they stepped out the luxurious train that they had been in for the past hours. They were guided to a car that took them to the remake centre. 

**OoOoO**

The next time Katniss and Harry met again was before the Opening Ceremony. "You look fantastic," Harry said as she made her way towards their chariot. 

"Same to you." She replied. Harry was wearing a matching costume, up to the headpiece and cape. 

"How was your stylist?" Harry asked her beside their chariot. 

"He was pretty nice actually, but I feel like I was plucked and skinned to the bone by my prep team." 

"I've never felt so clean. They must've taken away layers of my skin." Silence fell between them as they both got the idea of inspecting their opponents. Katniss' eyes landed on a girl that they saw on the television coming here. The girl from District 11 must've been Prim's age. 

"She's so young," Katniss said and Harry followed her gaze towards the girl. 

"She looks Prim's age." Silence fell again as they studied the girl, thinking that Prim could've been here if Katniss hadn't volunteered. 

Slowly it was time to start the Opening Ceremony, Cinna and Portia made their way towards Harry and Katniss to light their capes. "Smile, wave do whatever you need to get in their good graces. Good luck, you two." 

"Thanks." The both of them said as their chariot started to make it's way out. 

"I still don't trust these capes," Harry muttered as Cinna and Portia took out their lighters. "That fire looks really real to me."  

"I'll rip yours if you rip mine," she said, also not quite sure about being lit aflame. 

"Done," Harry said still looking warily at the fire that Portia was holding. 

The last second before they were out the stables, she felt her cape being lit. She was ready to rip the thing off her but she realised it wasn't burning her like normal fire. Once she was sure she wasn't burning, she looked up and took in the booming cheers of the Capitol citizens. Slowly all eyes were on them. 

Their capes did the trick, it captured everyone's attention. There were gasp and cheers as they saw the Tributes of District 12 on fire. Katniss took Harry's hand in hers as she looked out onto the sea of people. Finally deciding to take action, she smiled the most charming smile she could muster and waved, sending kisses occasionally. She took a peaked at her brother who, like her, was also smiling his best smile and waving, giving winks every once in a while. 

Roses were thrown in their direction as they round around the City Circle, Katniss saw the glares she and Harry were receiving from other tributes as the both of them literally outshone them. Katniss took a look at the screens showing the tributes aligned in a semi-circle facing the President Snow's Mansion. As the sun was mostly down, their costumes shone even brighter, it was almost impossible not to look at them. As they stopped Katniss realised how tight she was holding onto Harry's hand and as he was also returning the strength, she decided not to let go. 

When President Snow was finishing his speech, the chariots started moving again. District 1 moving first with District 2 following behind. By now the sun was fully set and their flickering costumes were impossible not to look at. 

Finally, they were back inside, and the both of them leap off the chariot, grateful that it was done. Most of the tributes were already gone, but the few that was still there openly glared at them. The two didn't mind them though as they made their way back to their rooms at the highest level of the Training Centre. 

"You two were fantastic!" came Effie's voice as they went into their room. "Captured everyone's attention you did!" 

"That was mostly Portia and Cinna," said Harry smiling at the two Stylist "The costumes were fantastic." 

"Thank you, Harry," replied Portia. 

"Now, go ahead and rest, tomorrow you two have your first day of training." Nodding, the two set out to their rooms. Stripping out of the costume, whose fire was put out. When Katniss was done with the shower, she instantly collapsed onto the comfortable bed. Dreading the next day, she slowly fell into slumber. 

 


	6. Training

 

** Chp. 6 - Training **

Harry awoke to an alarm set for him. Sitting up, he thought of what a mess he was pulled into. The Hunger Games, out of thousands of other children, it was him who was pulled out. Some part of him was grateful that it was him and not some other child since Katniss was the other Tribute since she knew she could trust him. There was no way he could kill her. He still feels like he owes her a life debt by taking him in when he was 11. 

He's gonna get her out, only one tribute can come out of this alive and it's going to be her. He's going to make sure of it, even if it means he's going to give up his life to it. He only hopes that Prim won't be there to witness it. Since the time Katniss and her family took him into their home, they became his family. The Dursleys were never family, just relatives and he was glad that he's no longer with them. 

Climbing out of bed, he stretched and changed into the clothes provided for them. Once changed, he walked out of his room to the dining room where everyone else was already seated and eating a large amount of food that was set in front of them. "How did you sleep, Harry?" asked Effie in her Capitol accent. 

"I slept very well, thank you. The bed was really comfortable." It wasn't the entire truth but it was close enough. As if anyone could sleep well when they know that they're going to be sent into an arena that they either have to kill or be killed, but the bed was truly comfortable, better than the one in District 12 or at the Dursleys. He really hopes that he will not get used to it since he'll probably be sleeping in trees in the next few days. The thought of only having a few days left gave him butterflies in his stomach. Suddenly losing his appetite, he pushed his food away. He was full anyways. 

Seeing Katniss also wasn't up for eating much, he went up to her. "How's your night?" 

"Like yours most likely." 

"Yea, I think the reality of this situation finally sank in." Katniss didn't say anything as she sighed. 

"I can't stop thinking about Prim, though. How's she reacting to all this, what's she doing right now, what could've happened if I didn't volunteer for her." 

"If you didn't volunteer for her, I would've made sure that she'll be back at District 12 alive." Silence hung between them again, the only sounds were of Effie talking to Haymitch, even though Haymitch wasn't even pretending to listen to her. 

Looking at the clock Harry said, "I think we should get going now." 

The others looked up at the clock and Haymitch nodded "Go on then. Remember what I said on the train." Harry and Katniss nodded at him and Katniss stood up, Effie following after. 

"I'll lead you down." Today she was wearing orange complete with orange nails, no less striking than her pink yesterday. The two of them followed Effie towards the elevator that went down towards the training ground. "Good luck!" she exclaimed and gave them a what should be a comforting smile under all the makeup. 

They walked into the training room, where only a few other tributes were there. After waiting another few minutes for all the other tributes to arrive, the instructor gave them a short speech about the training room. Durning that time, Harry looked around the room. They could start by the rope tying or camouflaging. Then perhaps move onto spear throwing since the both of them had never tried it before. 

When the instructor stopped talking, Katniss seemed to have the same idea as him and walked towards the camouflaging station. He trialled behind her and looked as the other tributes make their way towards the weaponry section. 

"Ah, I don't usually get tributes here. Let's see what you can do shall we?" He then started explaining the different material that can be used and showed she how to apply it to themselves. 

Harry's didn't look much as he inspects his 'masterpiece' but it should work enough for people not looking for him to look pass without drawing suspicion. By the time they were done, their hands were filthy with dirt and other stuff they placed on their skin. The two of them thanked the man teaching them and moved on to the plant section. 

They should excel at this, thought Harry as they had spent they're last four years hunting and picking plants in the woods. "Are these edible?" asked the instructor to Harry pointing at innocent looking berries, but Harry knew better. To untrained eyes, they look like innocent blueberries that you could eat, but if you know where to look, you'll see the differences like light and day. 

"Nightlocks. So no they're not edible, they could kill you the second you swallow or bite into it." Harry replied with his British accent that he still hasn't lost.  

The instructor seemed to approve of him and smiled. "Indeed Mr Potter. Well done." 

For the rest of the 'lesson', he asked the both of them of many different plants. How they could be helpful when you're hurt, what to do if you got stung by some poisonous nettles, how you can apply some leaves on injuries to numb the pain or use some leaves to act as bandages. 

Once they were done with that station they moved to the knot tying station, there, they learnt some harder knots and how to build some different snares than the ones they built in the woods in District 12.   

It was already lunch by the time they were done with that station. After getting their food, the two of them sat together on a table far enough from the other tributes so they won't be overheard. 

"I've been inspecting the other tributes," Katniss said in a quiet voice, careful of who might be listening in. 

"Same. What did you find?" Harry replied. 

"The ones from District 1 and 2 are in an alliance." 

Harry snorted and said "I figured that part. They usually are, they're careers."

"They're going to be the ones hardest to take down." 

"I don't think the girl from District 1 is much of a threat," Harry told her eying the group. "She's more looks than anything else."

Katniss turned a little and eyed the girl that Harry was talking about and nodded "As long as she stays with that group." 

"The guy from 11 he's pretty tough." 

"That's true." 

"I don't think the others are too much of a threat." In other words, most of them are probably going to die in the bloodbath. 

"I don't plan on actually fighting them until the absolutely necessary." 

"Me too, but are you thinking about making any alliances?" 

"No, not really. It'll be a bit difficult if we're the only ones left." No one mentioned that the both of them might have to face each other in the end. 

Finishing up their lunch, Harry asked, "You think I could manage an axe?" 

"Nope," Katniss said without any hesitation. 

"Thanks for having so much faith in me." Harry pouted. 

Katniss cracked a smile at her brother and said "No problem." Seeing as they were about the same level at everything, even height, "You think I can beat you with a spear to spear duel?" she challenged with a smirk. 

"Oh, you're on," Harry said with a smile and Katniss laughed. "Losers will be the one to clean Lady's pen for a month!" It was like the days they spent in the woods again, no one mentioned that they might not see home anymore, but the both of them ignored it. 

They do only have a few days left, why not enjoy it the best they could. 

 


	7. Gamemaker's Assesment

** Chp. 7 - Gamemaker's Assesment **

The next two days passed like it did on the first day. They stayed away from their best weapons and tried new ones. Before they started their friendly duel with spears, the both of them learnt some basic skills on how to handle them. Learning what they can, they fought a little afterwards. Still wanting the other tributes to underestimate them, they did poorly, acting as if they were about to trip over their own feet, or Harry did anyways. Katniss kept her cool, though didn't do her best either. 

They noticed the Careers laughing at Harry when he was pretending to fall over. Just when the last tribute left the training room, Katniss and Harry actually did their best trying to take the other down. They were pretty even. Though in the end, Katniss found got a lucky shot at Harry's feet and he tripped. 

"I win." She said with a smirk. 

Harry groan and said "Fine, you won." After she was sure Harry surrendered, she helped him up and placed their spears back. After the both of them retired back to their rooms, by the time they were up, dinner was already served. 

After that day, they didn't do any other friendly duel, they returned to the knot and plant station to learn and review on most knots and plants. On one of those days, Harry did try to swing an axe but failed spectacularly, causing another burst of laughter from the Careers. "At least now I know they're really underestimating me," said Harry. 

They continued that routine until the day of the Gamemaker's Assesment. All tributes sat outside the training room as one by one went into the room to get assessed. Some were much more nervous than others, but Harry and Katniss kept their cool. Katniss went in first with Harry wishing her good luck, she smiled and nodded at him, also wishing him good luck. 

As it had been hours since the assessment started, most of the Gamemakers were already drunk from the wine at their table. Katniss decided to start with her knife throwing, grabbing a few knives weighing them on her hands as she faced the targets. Throwing her arms back, she threw it straight at the target. She chose to only throw three knives as she wasn't the best at them. Though, luckily for her, they all hit bull's eyes. 

After she walked towards the bows section, smiling a bit as the looked over them, taking the one she thought would be best before grabbing the arrows and faced the targets again. She took notice that only a few Gamemakers were paying attention, most were chatting loudly from having too much to drink. Starting to get really annoyed now, she grabbed an arrow from its quiver and aimed at a moving target. Letting go, she looked as the arrow sailed towards its target and hit bull's eye. Shooting a few other arrows, all of which hit the bull's eye of the moving target, she even tried shooting with two arrows at once for a few times and they hit the target. When she started shooting three arrows at once, the loud chatting from the drunk Gamemakers was too much. 

Grabbing another arrow she aimed it at the Gamemakers, those paying attention were only starting to panic when the arrow sailed and hit the apple in the roasted pig they were about to eat. The apple was shot from it's previous position to the wall behind the Gamemakers. Knowing that she got their attention and is now doomed, she took a short bow and said "Thank you for your attention." before walking out the room, dropping the bow and arrows on the way. Now she was really doomed, walking out before she was dismissed, but she can't get herself to regret what she did. She then sat down and waited for Harry to come out before they return to their rooms together. 

Harry walked into a hushed room where the Gamemakers were talking. His eyes landed on the apple that was hanging on the wall with an arrow going through it, and he nearly laughed at what Katniss had done. 

Deciding to congratulate her after this, he walked towards the bows section, and like Katniss, he picked a bow and took its quivers before facing the moving targets. He shot a few arrows before shooting two at a time. When he thought he had shot enough, he went towards the knife throwing section. Selecting a few knives and throwing it in the air before catching them, he looked at the knife throwing targets, they were closer than the archery one. Throwing only two before he decided to take on a challenge, he turned towards the archery targets and aimed at the moving targets. He looked at the target and flung the knife forward. The knife soared through the air before hitting the moving target. 

Surely getting a few amazed eyes, he threw a few more, one after another without pause. He knew despite his skills, more than half of the Gamemakers still wasn't paying attention. Deciding to take a page out of Katniss's book, he took a knife from its table and threw it at the Gamemakers. The knife hit the arrow and went through it cutting both the arrow and apple in half. 'That would teach them' thought Harry, they're just lucky to have two rebellious District 12 tributes this year.  

"Enjoy your apple," he said a polite smile before also dismissing himself. 

Outside the room, he saw Katniss who was just standing up. "I see you did well," he said giving his sister a grin. 

"You saw?" Seeing Harry nod, "I'm so done," she continued "there's no way am I getting a good score now." 

"You and I both then," Harry added as they made their way towards the elevator. 

"What do you mean?" Katniss asked with a frown. 

"Took a page out of your book by helping them cut the apple in half," Harry said with a grin, smiling at the memory of the shocked faces. 

"Then we're both done." Katniss sighed. 

"Don't tell me you regretted it!" Exclaimed Harry. 

"Of course not!" 

"Nor do I, maybe they've even learnt their lesson of not paying attention." 

"Even if it didn't help much." 

"No, you're right, we probably won't get many sponsors, but it would still fool the tributes about us so they'll leave us alone, thinking us as weaklings." 

"Yea..."

"Maybe if we're lucky they'll ignore the last part and judge us by our skill." 

"If they saw any." 

The two stopped their conversation as they reached their floor, preparing to face their crew seeing as both tributes acted rebelliously. 

**OoOoO**

**I know that Peeta actually went in first in the books, but I changed it slightly here.**

 


	8. Scores

** Chp. 8 - Scores **

"You did what!?" Was the first reaction from Haymitch.

"We both shot at the Gamemakers." The both of them repeated in unison.

"That was the stupidest idea ever!" Haymitch exclaimed, "And I thought this year's tributes will have a chance at winning." He said under his breath. "Now you've provoked them there's no going back. Let's just wait for the ranks." Sighed Haymitch as they continued their dinner. 

As the time arrived for the scores to be shown everyone gathered around the TV. Starting with the girl from District 1, they watched as her picture appeared with her name on the bottom then a large black number on the top, 10. Slowly they made their way through the boys and girls from each district with the ones in District 1 and 2 getting 9s and 10s. Finally, the pictures got to District 11, Rue's picture appeared with a large 7, and her partner appearing after. Katniss took a deep breath as his picture faded and her picture appears. "Katniss Everdeen" flashing at the bottom of her picture and a large 11 on top of it. Everyone seemed to forget how to breathe as the large bold 11 disappeared along with her picture. Then Harry's picture came up following his name "Harry Potter" with another shining 11. 

The national anthem played and stopped, but no one spoke. The TV turned off and the room became so quiet that pin drop could be heard. The silence stretched for a few more seconds before Haymitch broke it by saying "Well that's a surprise." 

"Was I the only one who thought the screen said 11? Or am I double-sighted and saw two ones?" Harry asked straight after Haymitch needing confirmation of the latest revelation. 

"No, you're right. It said 11." Answered Katniss still staring at the dark screen. 

"Oh! Congratulations to the both of you! Now, all we have to worry about is tomorrow night's interview then you'll be all set!" Said Effie with a bright smile. No one was in the mood to mention that no they weren't set, they were about to be thrown in a competition that will most definitely lead to their death.  

"Do you really think that the Gamekeepers meant the 11s they gave us? asked Harry raising an eyebrow.

"No. I don't. I think it's a tactic for the other tributes to get rid of you as quickly as possible." answered Haymitch somberly. 

"Ah. Wonderful," commented Harry as sarcasm drips from his comment. 

"Well, I think you two," Haymitch said while pointing his finger at the both of them "should get an early night, tomorrow you can wake up a bit later before the prep teams come to get you right after lunch."

"I thought the interview takes place in the evening?" Harry asked.

"It does," answered Haymitch and they left it at that. 

"We'll take your advice and turn in for an early night," said Katniss as she stood up from the couch she was sitting on, she shot Harry a look before walking up the stairs that led to their rooms. 

"See you tomorrow, Haymitch," said Harry but only receiving a nod as Haymitch reached for another bottle of alcohol. With that, Harry followed Katniss's steps and went towards their rooms. 

 

"I thought since we have free time 'til lunch tomorrow that we could talk a little before going to bed," Katniss said as she sat on her bed. 

As Harry pulled the couch in her room closer to the bed, he said: "That's fine, don't think I could sleep that easily today either." 

"Do you have any plans how to talk in the interview?" Katniss asked after a while of silence from the two of them in thought. 

"Well... I just thought I'll wing it, pretend that it's just random questions and probably not think too much on the fact that thousands of people are watching my every move and words." 

"That made me feel a whole lot better, especially the fact that there will be thousands of people watching," said Katniss, flopping down onto her bed and sighing. 

"Well, I guess we'll have to charm some people as well, I don't know," Harry said, also sighing as he places his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. 

They lapsed into silence again before Harry spoke again "What about the Games? Any ideas?" 

"Really? We don't know anything. I think Haymitch's idea is probably the best one, avoid the Bloodbath, grab a backpack and hide." 

"Yeah." was the only response she got. With that, they were left with thoughts of what the future held for them and the fact that there was a possibility that they had less than two days left to live. 

"Katniss?" Harry's voice came again. 

"Yea?" Katniss replied. 

"I'm scared." the words spoken were quiet and soft. Katniss closed her eyes, Harry was a strong person, quite optimistic and usually the one trying to lift the mood. When she found him he was polite and kind, but he was also... detached. He accepted help from her family quite hesitantly, at first Katniss thought was because he didn't trust them, but later she learned that it was because he couldn't believe that someone would want to help him. Then later when Katniss actually spends time with her family, Harry would not be seen. She didn't understand it, but later she learned that it was because he was neglected as a child. That was a few months after he was taken in by them when she asked Harry to tell her about his time in England. 

He never met his parents, he never had friends and his supposedly family never cared for him. He yearned for compassion but was rejected and was told that he was a freak and did not deserve any love. Katniss thought that 10 years of having that drilled into your mind, especially as a child really takes its toll. That was the day that she took Harry under her wing and told him that they were family now. 

_"Really?" his voice was quiet and soft but hope shone brightly through it, his eyes wide under his glasses, "Do you really mean it?"_

_"Of course I mean it! You've been part of the family since we took you in!" Katniss exclaimed._

_"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Harry shouted as he hugged Katniss, his eyes were wet with tears "I've always wanted a family!" he sniffed._

_"Now you have one." Katniss grinned at him._

_"Do you promise to be my family forever?" Harry asked as he looked up, looking very much like a puppy._

_"Family is always forever."_

Snapping back to the present, she replied to Harry "Me too, Harry. Me too." The air was thick with dark emotions, but for once she tried to lighten the mood "When we get back, remember you're the one who's going to clean Lady's pen for a month." 

She turned her head, and although his head was still in his head, covering his eyes, Katniss could see the small smile there. "That time you got lucky." 

"No really? Remember the time when we decided to throw knives to see who can get the apple first but then you ended up cutting one of the branches?" 

"Yea, but I specifically remember cutting off the branch the apple was on and your exact words were 'who gets the apple down first, wins' and mind fell onto the floor first." Katniss chuckled. 

"Yea but Gale was the judge and he said I was the winner." 

"That was unfair and I was stuck with skinning the animals we caught for 3 weeks!" 

"Nah, it was 2." 

"I was the one doing it, and I  _know_  it was 3." 

"Gale helped you a bit though!"

"Yea, because he felt guilty about declaring you the winner and not me." 

With the talk of the times they had fun together, they successfully lifted the mood. They talked long into the night, savouring the conversation because they knew that it would probably their last. Harry ended up sleeping in Katniss's room, curled up on the couch, both of them subconsciously not wanting to be alone that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always thought that in the books, Harry's treatment as a child should've taken it's toll more than it did, because how can a child who's constantly told that they're not worth anything not take it to heart? Especially when he had no one else to turn to and no one else to reassure him. Also, this chapter also gives a hindsight to Katniss and Harry's sibling relationship.


	9. The Interview

** Chp. 9 - The Interview **

The next morning, Harry woke up to a sore neck from the angle he slept in. Sunlight shone through the curtains, allowing some light into the room. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, noticing that he didn't take his glasses off that night before standing up and stretching. Looking at the clock by Katniss's bed, it read 10:47 am. Taking note that they had slept over breakfast and lunch was to be served in about an hour, Harry slowly crept out the room, careful not to wake Katniss. 

Once he got to his room, he took a nice bath taking his time as it's probably the last time he would get a bath before changing into some new clothes. By the time he was done it was nearly 11:30, picking a random book from the small bookshelf in his room he started to read a little. By the end of the 30 mins, he had skimmed or read through the first few pages of all the books available on the bookshelf which only contained about 10 that seemed to have never seen daylight. All of them were terrible, they were drama and really cliche romance stories that you could guess the ending to, with the first few pages. He remembered reading a children's storybook back in England which had a better and less predictable plot than them. 

Feeling as if he had just wasted 30 minutes of his life, Harry got out of his room and down to the dining room. As he made his way to the table he noticed that Katniss and Effie were already there. He sat down and started on his breakfast/lunch barely aware of Effie's constant speeches about who knows what. He thought he heard something about perfumes or whatever normal Capitol people worry about. Throughout the whole of lunch, Katniss and Harry simply shot each other looks in a silent conversation not hearing a word Effie said until the prep team came and took them to their separate make-up rooms. 

They did the same thing they did last time, although it didn't hurt as much this time (especially the hair-waxing) as they've done it before not a week ago. After the hour of torture, their stylist came into the room. 

"Hello, Harry! How's it going?" Portia asked. 

"Absolutely wonderful!" Harry replied back with the same enthusiastic tone but hints of sarcasm. 

"Great. So we'll be spending some time trying on these clothes I brought in, to see which would fit you best." She said waving her hand at a rack of clothes that had to contain at least 15 sets of clothes. Harry bit back a groan as they got started on them. 

 

The next time Katniss and Harry met, was in the car taking them to the interview. Katniss was wearing a nice red dress with fabrics made to look like flames, much like it was in the chariot ride, making the flames her signature look. Her hair was up and her make-up was done to match her dress. She wasn't wearing any jewellery accept some earrings with gems that shone like flames when light reflects off it. Altogether, the look was a bit plain but nonetheless, it looked perfect. "You look great!" Harry said smiling as they both walked towards the doors of the car. 

"You too" Katniss replied, returning the smile. Harry wasn't wearing glasses, that was the first thing that Katniss noticed. She nearly didn't know it was him when they made their way to the same car. As Harry could barely see without his glasses, the only times that she's seen him without them was when he was sleeping, or the few times he was awake he's usually squinting trying to see. But she had to say, it's nice for a change. Without the glasses, his eyes seemed greener. Then he was also wearing a nice green suit that compliments his eyes along with some makeup to perfect the look. 

Both of them were not wearing anything close to what they would normally wear but it's the Capitol, at least they didn't have to wear any horrendous wigs. Inside the car, the two barely talked, both anxious about the interview to come. As both their stylist and Effie gave them some tips on the interview, there wasn't much else to talk about anyways. 

 

About an hour later, all 24 tributes were sat around the backstage, with Harry and Katniss at the end. Each tribute will be up there for 3 minutes and it will take more or less a minute to switch. So basically Harry had to wait a total of more than an hour and 30 minutes before it would be his turn up the stage. There wasn't a lot of talks behind the stage, most tributes didn't know each other and truth to be told, the Hunger Games isn't the best place to be making friends as they would probably going to be dead in a couple of days. 

Harry looked around the room, everyone was very nicely dressed. All the females were wearing dresses while all the men were wearing suits although all their outfits vary a lot from each other and not only from colour. One of the girls was wearing a dress with a  _lot_ of jewels. With every slight movement she made, her dress would reflect light into people's eyes. Her hair was also decorated with jewels along with her makeup. Which made Harry really glad that she would be the first to go up because he was sure that he would get a headache from looking at her much longer. 

Then there was another girl that was wearing a dress that was made from a very thin golden fabric, it covered her up but still, a lot of skin showed. One of the guys was wearing bright yellow clothes with matching makeup. Even though there were some quite extreme outfits, some people were wearing quite plain clothes, like one of the guys wore a plain black suit. 

As the minutes tick by, Harry and Katniss sat there as people slowly file out, one by one, onto the stage. Katniss wiped her sweaty hands on her dress as she watches the person who sat beside her walked out after their name was called, too distracted by her nervousness to even catch the person's name. Then, much quicker than she liked, Ceasar Flickerman was thanking the tribute and Katniss was called. 

"Now let us welcome, Katniss Everdeen of District 12!" With that Katniss stood up and returned the nod that Harry gave her before walking out into the spotlight. She was quick to put a smile on her face as soon as the lights and cheering people reach her eyes. Locating Ceasar who was standing in front of his seat, she walked towards him and shook his hand. 

"Hello, Katniss! You look absolutely stunning in that dress!" 

"It is isn't it? You will have to thank my stylist for that, he was great." 

"Give us a twirl won't you?" 

Katniss smiled and said "Of course!" stepping a few steps forward so she was standing in the middle of the stage, she spun a few rounds in front of the crowd. The moment she started spinning, the edge of her dress caught on fire causing the audience to gasp, but once she stopped the flames distinguished. 

"Woah! That was great!" Ceasar exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Again, credit to my stylist!" 

"Now, enough excitement, please sit down. So! How are you doing this fine evening?" Ceasar asked sitting down. 

Taking that as her queue to also sit down, she answered: "Brilliant! Thank you for asking, and you?" 

"Wonderful! Now, how do you feel about your scores that were announced yesterday?"  _Great straight to the point._ "Quite an amazing feat you pulled there! An eleven! Along with the other District 12 tribute! Tell us your secret, Katniss, how you got that record-breaking score."

"No can't do, Ceasar, because I myself don't understand it as well, it was quite a miracle!"

"Ah pity, I'm sure future tributes would have appreciated it if you told them how you did it. Well! Too bad for them!" Ceasar laughed and Katniss forced one with him. "Tell us about your stay here." 

"Marvellous!" Katniss exclaimed, waving her hands a bit. "The Capitol is a great place after all!" What's the best way to charm someone if not to praise their home? 

"It is, isn't it?" he said with a large smile, "Now, tell us, what's your favourite part of being here?" 

"Oh, there are loads! I don't know where to start! The buildings are beautiful, the beds are comfortable and oh! Don't get me started on the food!" She exclaimed, she thought her voice sounded quite sarcastic from the forced optimism she was showing, but at least she wasn't lying. Besides, the crowd was loving it. 

"Ah yes! Food! I love food! What is your favourite dish?" 

"Hmm, that's a hard one Ceasar." Katniss gave the interviewer a pointed look. 

"Oh, come on Katniss, everyone has favourites!" 

"Indeed you're right, I think I would have to say the Lamb Stew." 

"Good choice! Good choice! I would have to agree as well!" 

"It was wonderful, can't have enough of it! I was stuffing my face with it and couldn't stop." 

"Certainly, is there nothing like that from your District?" 

"No, I'm afraid not. Most of the time we have to cook for ourselves and live off what we can get. Which isn't much I must add, to even have a loaf of bread would be heaven for us." With that, the crowd seemed to sombre a little. 

"I see, and your family? How are they currently?" 

"I would hope that they are well. I miss them very much and I can't wait to win this just so I can get back home just to see them again." 

"I am sure many would like to see you win this competition as well, but I heard that you are quite close to the other tribute of District 12. Quite a scene you made when your names were picked." 

"His name is Harry, I'm sure you'll be speaking to him shortly, but to clear some things up, he is my brother in all but blood." 

"Have you guys known each other for a long time?" 

"Well-" Katniss never got to finished her sentence because at that moment a beep rang out, the crowd moaned, signalling the end of her interview time. Saying her final thanks and waving to the crowds she walked into the backstage, silently wishing Harry luck. 

 

Throughout Katniss's whole interview, Harry paid attention and he had to give her credit for not sounding nervous and winning the crowd over. Then it was his turn, standing up, he made his way towards the curtain and not long after his name was called. 

"Here comes, Harry Potter of District 12! Our final tribute!" Came Ceasar's clear voice through the curtains hiding him. Straightening his back and gracing his face with a smile, he stepped out onto the stage. It was nerve-wracking, knowing that thousands of eyes were on you, but thank god that he couldn't really see the crowds from the light shining onto the stage although it doesn't help much in the knowledge that right now his interview is played live amongst the whole of Panem. 

Doing what everyone did, Harry walked towards Ceasar and shook his hand before sitting down in the chair provided. "So Harry, you're the last one being interviewed tonight, how do you feel?" Ceasar asked him, his smile bright. 

"Absolutely nerve-racking. Having to sit there at the back for one and a half hour knowing that soon you'll be coming up with thousands of people looking at you. If that doesn't scare someone, I don't know what will." Harry replied with a slight laugh, keeping tabs of his British accent from getting too strong, because according to Katniss, it returns full force when he was nervous, and he really didn't need people asking where he got his strange accent from. 

Ceasar laughed along with him but shortly asked: "We all saw that you and Katniss both got 11s, tell us how you both did it as Katniss was a bit reluctant about sharing her secrets." winking as he said that. 

"Well, I don't know how Katniss did it, but I'm sure if you've got looks like me, you'll be able to charm many people." Harry joked and winked at the crowds. 

Ceasar laughed but joked along with him: "Of course! Soon people will start lining up in front of your door! Talking about doors, how has the Capitol been for you as you passed through our doors?" 

"Breathtaking. The city is superb with all its buildings, and since we arrived at sunset, the view was spectacular as our train zoomed past." 

"Was that the first time you have seen buildings like ours?" 

"Basically, I mean where else could you find a city like this? Buildings reaching higher than 100 floors! In District 12, the tallest building was probably only 4 floors high! I felt tiny walking in your streets." The crowd laughed. 

"I guess the buildings does make you feel quite small, what about the other things about this city?" 

"Well, everything is great. I would have to agree with Katniss on this one, the food, the beds, the rooms and also the people are quite nice too!" 

"Are we different from people from your District?" 

"Oh very! There are so many variations of people here! Especially your clothes and style in general! Back home, we have mostly grey clothes, so being here is actually a big change to the eye." 

"A nice change, no?" 

"Great change," Harry said with a smile. That was a lie, but he couldn't say that their clothes hurt his eyes when he was trying to win them over. 

"On the subject of clothes, Katniss looked quite stunning in her dress didn't she?" 

"Oh yes, I couldn't see much from the back, but I saw enough to know that it was quite a stunning show." 

"Indeed it was, and you don't look that bad yourself!" 

"Why thank you!" Harry grinned while fixing his plain black tie. 

"But now may you emphasize your relationship with Katniss? I'm sure everyone is curious." 

"It's plainly platonic, she is like a sister to me, she and her family took me in when I had nowhere to go." 

"Really? What happened to your family?" Harry silently cursed himself for doing the one thing he tried to avoid; bringing the subject about his past. 

Harry dropped his eyes and smile before saying "Oh... they died long ago, I- I was the only one left until Katniss found me alone." With that the crowd made pitying noises, making Harry think maybe it wasn't that bad as maybe he could get some supporters from his sad story. He knew that he would need all the help he could get in the Arena. 

"Oh, I am sorry for your lost," Ceasar said somberly. 

"No, it's alright. It was a long time ago, besides I have a new family now." Harry said with a sad smile on his face. What he said was true, he never knew his parents, so you can't miss what you never had, although he had thought of what life would be like if they were alive and if he would've even travelled to the future if they were there. However, there was no point in thinking about what-ifs, he had accepted the facts and was now living in the present, happy that at least he found another family. "Only that the odds were not in our favour that the both of us got chosen as tributes, but as only one can come out of the arena alive, I will make sure it is Katniss from the years she and her family had taken care of me." The words he said wasn't meant to win the Capitol people over, it was a promise. He meant every single word he said and to the death of him, he will keep his words. 

After that, they moved onto lighter matters with Harry joking around a bit, also pulling the pity card a couple more times, hoping that maybe he would get people to like him from humour and a sad past. Not long after that, his bell rang and the interview ended. 

Now the last thing for them to do was to go into the arena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yea, Peeta went first for the Interview in the books but since I placed Katniss first in the Gamekeeper's Assesment, I just thought I'll keep it up. Lady's first, right? Maybe the interview didn't flow as well as I would've liked it, but I hoped it was okay. Also, you could probably see the Slytherin in Harry coming out *wink*
> 
> This was a long chapter for the length of time I had not updated causing people to have to re-read, thanks for sticking with this story and thanks for reading! 
> 
> Next chapter, in the Arena they go. 


	10. Tokens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, to all who commented on my story! It's greatly appreciated!
> 
> This chapter isn't in the arena yet, and I used quite some time on it so relish it. Thank you to those who actually read these ANs, because I know I not one of you guys. 

 

** Chp. 10 -  ** ** Tokens **

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Harry reached out his hand to shut the alarm before swinging his feet off the bed. He places his elbow on his knees before dropping his head into his hands.

 _'Today is the day'_  he thought as he rubbed his eyes. Taking deep breaths, he stood. It was currently 7 in the morning and the games start at 10. Three hours left, but they had to be in their launching rooms an hour before they enter the arena for final checks or whatever they do. Harry went to the bathroom deciding to take one long bath as it'll probably be his last chance even being able to wash.

45 minutes later, Harry emerged from his room clean, his hair still slightly wet and dressed in his normal attire that all tributes were given. Making his way down the stairs he saw that Effie and Haymitch were already at the dining table but Katniss was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning!" Said Effie, with a bright smile that Harry won't be able to manage if he tried today.

"Morning, Effie. Haymitch." Harry replied not as enthusiastically, but he still returned a small polite smile. Taking his usual seat at the table, he started on his breakfast.

"How're you feeling?" Haymitch asked with his eyes on him.

"As good as possible, I guess. I try not to think about it." Harry said with a shrug, truly not wanting to think about the fact that in 2 hours he was going to be sent to what most likely was going to be his death.

"I can tell you that you're doing much better than most. Some doesn't stop crying even until their sent in."

"Thanks?" He didn't know how to reply to that, he certainly won't blame those that did cry, because being sent to death is a pretty big thing. If he was truthful if he kept reminding himself of that he might end up like them so in order to keep his posture he engaged Effie to a conversation about her  _beautiful_  hair. Really trying to keep up with her this one time, instead of just nodding, he actually made comments showing that he was listening and he was sure that Effie was ecstatic that she finally had a listener.

5 minutes after Harry started talking to Effie, (in those short minutes, he swears that he had learned at least 5 new colours and textures about hair which he never knew existed) Harry saw Katniss making her way down the stairs wearing the same outfit as he was, as well as having wet hair that was out.

When she reached the table, Harry nodded at her (as he would've felt rude if he interrupted Effie mid-speech) and she nodded back. There was no need for words, they have said everything they needed to each other, they had tried to plan as much as possible but it wasn't really possible as they had no idea what they were getting into. They might be sent to the middle of the sea or a dark cave where they will probably never see daylight again or to a plain green field where they've never heard of 'hiding-space' before. All they had truly plan is to find each other, somehow, but it's hard to attract someone's attention without attracting others so... Not to mention if one of them died suddenly, not 2 minutes into the game. Somethings just had to be left to fate.

They used 40 minutes to savour their breakfast and to talk. Both relating to the Games and not, depending who they were talking to. Effie' speech about hair didn't end until Harry was 15 minutes into his breakfast and was just sitting there slowly munching on an apple. By then he was quite overwhelmed by the information that needed to be known about the specific types of dyeing someone's hair and how colours could match (although he didn't know if it's a good idea to trust Capitol people on colours, they didn't seem to know what not-vibrant colours look like). Good information if he was to dye his hair one day, not that he will but he was getting ahead of himself anyways as he probably would be dead in a week and his body will be buried. In that case, hair really didn't matter that much anymore.

With 10 minutes to spare, Katniss and Harry went back to their rooms for the last time. Once they were out of the penthouse, privacy would probably be none existent anymore. There wasn't much to do, they couldn't bring anything, each tribute was only allowed one token and not even the clothes they were wearing now will accompany them into the arena.

Both of them entered Harry's room this time, "so..." Katniss started as she sat on the bed.

"So..." Harry repeated pulling up a chair, much like two nights ago.

"In about an hour we're off."

"Yep." Harry said with a 'pop' on the p.

"I can barely believe it," Katniss said, her eyes staring out the window, off into a distance.

"Yea, me neither." Like Katniss, he also looked out the half-opened curtains at the large city. After a few seconds, Harry returned his sight to the room and sighed. He rose to his feet without a word before taking a few steps towards his sister-in-all-but-blood and embraced her. Katniss pulled her gaze from the window and stood up, before hugging him back. Harry was still shorter than Katniss, but barely after the growth spurt half the year ago. His head was on her shoulder with his eyes closed and Harry was sure Katniss was in the same position as he, both seeking comfort from the challenge that awaits them. At that point, it was hard to forget that once they were in, one or both of them would not be coming out.

Usually, Harry would be embarrassed being so sentimental, but he thought he had the right to be so. The clock was ticking, their time is running out. Not only the time until they had to leave for the arena, but also the time until one of them is gone. They stood embracing without exchanging any words for minutes, giving all the silent support they could. No tears were cried, no goodbyes, even if their chance of survival were slim, they did not accept this as their last meeting.

"All tributes are expected to be at the entrance hall in 5 minutes." An announcement rang out, before repeating again. It was time, there will be cars to take them to their destination which was the meeting at the entrance hall. Each district tributes will each have their own car, but once they step out, cameras will be everywhere. Savouring the last minute of their embrace, they pulled away as they went to retrieve their respective token to bring into the arena.

Harry went over to the desk in his room, laying on top of the smooth wooden surface was a small wood carved token. It was bigger than Katniss' Mockingjay pin but not by much. Harry took it into his palm, feeling the smoothly carved wood against his skin. The token was hand carved by himself back in district 12. They don't usually have free time, but he thought he could adopt a hobby for fun.

He started carving 2 to 3 years ago, at the start it was terrible. He tried making a simple circle the size of his palm but it would end up as small as a coin by the time he got the shape right. Katniss laughed at him when he started, said that there was no way he could do it. That time, Harry pouted and said he will prove to her that he can, truthfully he was about to give up, but his desire to prove her wrong was stronger. He wasn't offended by her lack of faith, he didn't have much either (he also cut himself a lot, the scars on his hands and fingers are proof) but he continued, he practiced every free time he got in the first month until he could get shapes correct before moving onto smaller details.

A year later, for Katniss' birthday, he carved a small eagle for her. He didn't know why an eagle, but he thought it represented her want for freedom, to fly unrestrained, plus an eagle hunts quite well, like Katniss. Then for Prim, he carved Lady for her, he wasn't sure if all the details were correct but he spent a long time staring at that goat until he was sure he would get nightmares of that goat. After a year, he takes each project quite seriously, looking over details and all. He started carving a bow not long ago, it was difficult because this wasn't simply shape, a bow needs strength and flexibility so he had to be precise on the thickness of the bow as well as finding the right wood. He never got to finish it, he was about half way and needed probably another 2 weeks or more before finishing until the Hunger Games caused a change of plans.

This token he was holding though, was the one with most memories. It was one of his first successful projects, it was also the one that took the longest. The token was one with a lily and a stag. He chose the lily because it was all he knew of his mother, her name and he didn't know why a stag but he thought it represented his father. It was simply a gut feeling of what to carve as his father, an image, he doesn't remember them but at least he had an imaginary part of them with him.

His life before District 12 was usually buried deep in his mind, he knew his parent's name from his aunt and uncle. That was the only fact that he thought was true and held onto because any other thing about them that leaves his aunt and uncles' mouth was nothing good. That's how he learned to never bring his parents up, he would never believe a word about his parents from his relatives but still. He had his parents in his imagination, they were pure and he didn't want anything to spoil that.

However, the token doesn't only hold the meaning of his parents. He did mention that it held memories as well, when he was carving it, he was always with Katniss and Gale. One of the days, they were simply enjoying themselves, playing around, joking around. There weren't many days they could do that, but for some reason that day was special. They ran around the woods and everything, until hours later Harry noticed that he dropped his nearly finished token somewhere. He was devastated. It was nearly dark so soon they wouldn't be able to see in the dark.

All in all, it was hopeless.

Katniss and Gale wouldn't hear of it though, he said he could always start again but they knew how long it took him to get everything perfect, so they searched. They searched for hours and hours until the sun was gone and they couldn't see anymore did they return. Harry told them to give up but they didn't, they spent days searching as well as hunting before Gale shouted: "I FOUND IT!" Nearly three days after Harry lost it. When Harry saw it with his eyes that it was actually there, he squealed and hugged the both of them. They were lucky that it didn't rain those few days, if it did, the token would've sure been buried under layers of mud, never to be seen again.

It wasn't only the fact that he found the token again (he could've made another one, although it would've taken a long time), but it was the fact that his friends would spend days hunched, searching for something that was basically camouflaged with the ground while covering a large area really touched Harry. Most people would've given up the first day, but they didn't. So that was why the token meant so much to him, it wasn't only the symbol of his parents, but it was also the object that showed him how much his friends cared for him and he was glad that he would be bringing that with him into the arena. If he were to die alone, at least he had a part of his friends and family with him.   
  


Katniss and Harry got out of the car after sitting about 20 minutes in it. There were 12 cars for each district, each with the district's number, all were parked in a semi-circle outside an entrance. All tributes were lead through the door and into the room it contained. There was nothing inside except its metal walls and another door opposite it. One by one they were taken into separate rooms by their stylist it's about a minute between each tribute. When the District 11 girl was led through the door, Katniss placed a hand on Harry's shoulder "Good luck." She said looking into his eyes, grey meeting green.

Harry took a breath before answering "you too." With a tight smile. "See you in the arena."

Katniss returned the tight smile and said: "Don't die on me."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily."

The door was sliding open again as Katniss chuckled a bit before saying: "See you there." and with that, she turned around and walked out the room trailing behind her stylist. Not long after the door opened again and Portia led Harry towards a lift which took them down quite a few meters before she led him down a corridor. Much like Harry expected the corridor was rounded with doors feet apart, from where he stood, he could just see two doors in his eyesight before the curve hid the other. The doors were labelled in alphabetical order, and Harry was led to one with an 'O'.

Inside, the room was neither big nor small with a glass tube extending up into the ceiling, on top of the entrance of the tube was a timer, currently reading 0:31:42 with the seconds counting down steadily. Walking deeper into the room Harry glanced at the clock that hung on the wall, 10:28 am, it read. The room was quite plain with equipment that was most likely scanners but there was still some decoration that made it look less like a prison room. While Harry was observing the room, Portia already placed her bag down and was looking for something inside it. 

"Those," she started gesturing the set of clothes that hung on another door in the room "are the clothes that you'll be wearing into the arena." The set of clothes included a plain black t-shirt, military green trousers and a black jacket. Then beneath them was a pair of black ankle high boots with socks laid on top. "As you already know, you're only allowed one object as your token into the arena which you can place in here." she continued, placing her hand on the grey box beside her. "Now, I have these semi-permanent contact lenses that you can wear in the place of your glasses as they would not be allowed in." With that, she handed him a pair of lenses packed in a plastic container. After he had the lenses in his hand she told him: "You can use the bathroom, which is the door behind your clothes to change." Having finished giving out instructions, she gave him a smile before turning and busying herself in whatever machine was behind her. 

Losing no time, Harry too turned around and walked into the bathroom. The bathroom was small and plain, signalling that it's entirely practical. There was a shower, a toilet, a sink and a mirror. Then as if they weren't stressing them enough, another timer was above the door, it's bright red numbers hard to miss and it was counting down at 0:29:51. Taking off his clothes that they were provided for training, he replaced them with the new clothes given. Seeing a basket in the corner of the room, he dumped his old clothes in there. After that, he opened the contact lenses packet and took off his glasses, placing them on the side of the sink before placing on the lenses. 

About 10 minutes later, Harry re-emerged from the bathroom, not that he used 10 minutes changing, but he needed his last alone time to take a breath and centre himself. When Portia saw him she asked him to stand inside a scanner, that probably scans if he had any hidden weapons or whatever, Harry couldn't really be bothered to know anymore. Portia then told him that his token was checked and that he was ready to go with 10 minutes to spare. The anticipation was killing him. He was even tempted to do the scanning again just to kill time, or simply have something to do! In the end, Harry engaged Portia in a small talk, but it was clear that no one was in the mood. In the space of 2 minutes, he probably glanced at the timer at least 30 times. 

Finally, an alarm went. Signalling the Tributes to be finished and the seconds counted down for them to step into their pods. Harry supposed it would be logical that he panicked even more at the alarm, but now, all he felt was acceptance. In the short seconds he had left, he embraced and thanked Portia for all her help, then with 15 seconds left to spare he stepped into the cylinder tube. In the tube, Harry took a deep breath and smiled at Portia as the countdown ended and the metal platform he stood on rose up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things I made up. It's been a while since I've finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy so I don't remember much. I just thought to give it my own spin, rather than start re-reading the whole series again, but still maintaining the original plot (plus, I have less than a week of holiday left so I'd rather write as much as I can now). 
> 
> I'm trying to aim writing at least half of the 74th hunger games before my holiday is over, I've got the ending of this story planned out, but there's still a large gap in the middle. I'm going to try to make the story fit more or less the whole trilogy, so that means including the Quarter Quell and so on... It might take a while and I can only wish patience with you all (and me as well. I hope I don't give this story up before the end).
> 
> Thank you for all your patience (and sorry for this chapter not being in the Arena yet, but next chapter, I promise) 
> 
> Jane 
> 
> PS. this is the longest chapter I've ever written, 3000 words! *gives myself a pat on the back*


	11. The 74th Hunger Games

** Chp. 11 - The 74th Hunger Games **

For the next few seconds, there was nothing to see except for the occasional lights that zoomed past. It felt like forever standing there, his hands sweaty and him constantly shifting from feet to feet. Then, what seemed to be out of nowhere, a hole opened up allowing sunlight in and not a second too soon, Harry ascended onto the arena of the 74th Hunger Games. 

His eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the light, he was barely aware of the announcement being said. Everyone knew the rules. 60 seconds. A projection was on top of the cornucopia, with what was left of their 60 seconds in bright red numbers. Harry saw all other tributes standing in a perfect circle, metres away from each other, on top of their platforms. He looked around trying to find a glimpse of Katniss somewhere, his eyes scanned the tributes he could see  _twice_ , but no luck. She just  _had_ to be positioned behind the Cornucopia. Knowing that he couldn't do anything else, he simply looked at the two tributes beside him. 

He decided that he was quite lucky, as the two beside him wasn't careers. He wasn't exactly sure who they were but he and Katniss took note of the people they should be aware of and he was pretty sure they weren't on the list. Although that didn't mean he should underestimate them too badly, he knew because he was one of those who  _wanted_ people to underestimate him. Once he got his information, he flicked his eyes towards the timer as he saw it ticked down to 38 seconds. Adverting his eyes from it, he scanned the Arena.

There were a field and a lake behind him, then some tall grass continuing beside the lake, ending somewhere behind the cornucopia. He simply took note of those areas but his eyes were mostly drawn to the large forest to his right. Without a second thought, he knew that was where he will be heading. Having that down, he glace at the timer; 30 seconds and looked down at the field in front of him. 

The Cornucopia had a lot of equipment in it, and that was all he observed from it, but he wasn't interested in that. He located the closest backpack meters away from him, quite far out from the Cornucopia, like a lot of other equipment. It was a bright blue backpack but it was straight in front of him. Then there was another orange one another couple of metres away from it. He will reach the blue one, that was certain but he wasn't sure about the orange one. Best to have extras, and if he could reach it, that would be best. 

Glancing around the blue backpack, there was a couple of weapons and equipment but his eyes were only on one; the knife. An axe laid closest to his blue backpack, but he knew that it would only slow him down, but just a metre away from the orange backpack was a knife. It's blade gleaming underneath the sunlight. From the distance, he couldn't make out much, but knowing that at least he could get a backpack and knife, he was ready to move. Glancing at the timer just in time to see 5 seconds left, he went into a running position as a loud alarm filled the air. 

Everyone tore off from their platform and chaos erupted seconds after. 

Harry didn't look anywhere except at the blue backpack and dagger, he ran and slid his hand into the blue backpack as swift as possible. Then with a couple of steps, he lunged to grab hold of the knife. Finally, without flattering, he took another step and grabbed the orange backpack. All those took probably less than 5 seconds. 

Suddenly, a gut feeling told him to look to his side, and he did. When he did, he saw a flash of shadows behind him. Then, with reflexes he didn't know existed, he rolled to his side, barely avoiding a stab in the back. The person pitched, and without even taking note of who it was, he took his chance and kicked them hard in the stomach. The tribute fell. 

Quickly, he swung the two backpacks onto his back, but not a second later, he sensed another attack. From the corner of his eyes, he saw an axe coming his way. Harry dodged the last possible moment and he heard more than saw the axe coming down, digging into the earth. As they stumbled from the momentum, Harry elbowed them in the back, sending them towards the other tribute who was just climbing up. He barely paid attention to the fact that instead of elbowing the tribute, he could've easily stabbed them. The knife was held in the same arm, but he didn't. He didn't want to kill. Not today, not ever and certainly not under something that wasn't his own reasons. However, he knew, in the back of his mind that it was impossible, but he'll deal with that later, right now nothing was going through his head except  _escape_. 

Gathering his bearing quickly, he located the woods and sprinted off towards it immediately. Running at a breakneck speed, not looking back once. Screams echoed behind him as the bloodbath continued on, but not once did he falter. 

 

He ran and ran until his lungs burned and legs could carry him no further before collapsing against a tree deep in the woods. He could barely hear from the blood soaring through his ears. Leaning against the tree, he tried to catch his breath. It took awhile but once it was better, he scanned the area for immediate threats. When nothing came up, he swung both backpacks off his shoulder and started to work. 

He emptied out the contents of both backpacks to see what he got, a green self-filtering water bottle, another smaller, clear but not self-filtering water bottle but at least it came with a small bottle of Iodine. A pack of energy bar, a pack of dried meat and two packs of crackers, a rope, a tiny first aid kit with a bandage and some medicine, a small pair of binoculars, a blanket and a sleeping bag. Seeing the things that he got, he couldn't help but feel a bit lucky. He wondered how many people could get a first aid kit especially as the whole point of this was to  _die_.

Once he knew of the things he had, he gathered them up again and tried fitting them all into the blue backpack. The backpacks were small so he couldn't fit everything in, especially both the sleeping bag and the blanket (even though it was small), so he decided to improvise. 

First, he dumped the food and medicine into the blue backpack, then the water bottles on the side for easy access when he opens the bag before stuffing the blanket in. Then as the bag was already full, he took the rope and tied the sleeping bag on the backpack. Once he was sure it was secure, he took the empty orange backpack and buried it under some dirt, just enough so people wouldn't see it from a distance. Then, at last, he took the knife from the floor and attached it to his belt. After that, he was off. 

He walked for hours, trying to find water. His throat was dry since his ran from the Cornucopia, but then finally, he heard it. Flowing water. Not wasting a second, he quickened his pace towards it. Before walking straight out into the clearing though, he checked for dangers, after a few minutes sensing nothing, he walked forward. Dropping to his knees, he filled both the water bottles before taking huge mouthfuls from the self-filtering one after waiting a while. Not wanting to risk staying any longer, he climbed up a tree with a good amount of leaves not too far from the river. Opening up one of the crackers, he decided to stop and rest for a while just sitting on the tree. 

It was then, did he start to truly look at his surroundings. It was quite beautiful really. Considering the place's only purpose was for people to kill each other. If he had to be happy about anything, it would be having a forest in this game. He and Katniss had a lot of experiences with forests. They knew how to hunt there, how to climb trees, how to make certain things with it etc. 

He always had mixed feelings about hunting. They had to do it to survive, call him soft but he never really enjoyed killing those animals and if he had to say, that's part of the reason why they always aim for the eyes when killing. If it goes through the eyes, it surely went through the brain so they die immediately, also they wouldn't ruin as much fur that they could save for winters. If not the brain, then the heart. 

Harry didn't know how long he sat on the tree for simply pondering. At least the Gamekeepers had enough sense to give them clothes that were more or less able to camouflage with their surroundings. Looking towards the sky, he saw the sun was probably a couple of hours until the sun was fully set. The games started at 10 exactly, he estimated it probably took him less than a minute to get out the bloodbath. Then he thought he probably ran for over half an hour and walked for hours after that to find water. From where the sun was now, it would probably be about 4 in the afternoon so about 3 hours until sunset. 

Now with at least some sense of time, Harry decided to go hunting. He knew he couldn't rely on the small amount of food he had from the backpacks. Standing up on the branch, he decided to go hunting on the trees. The trees in this forest were quite strong so their branches were thick enough and go quite far. Plus, Harry considered himself quite small, much like all other District 12 people. Even before District 12, he wasn't fed exactly a healthy amount from the Dursleys, and having to grow up in a cupboard certainly affected some parts of him. He could care less now though, his lightweight is certainly a benefit, especially if he was chased by the careers. They were all well fed and muscled (especially the guys) so the branches wouldn't hold their weight. Furthermore, they would probably have a lot less experience with trees. 

Stepping from branches to branches, Harry searched for any sight of possible prey staying. All the while staying conscious of not going too far from the river. It didn't take long for him to find a squirrel. Unsheathing his knife from his belt and making sure that he was still balanced on the branch. With skill and accuracy that could only be achieved through years of hunting,  Harry threw the knife. Within the second, his knife found its mark and the squirrel fell onto the floor with a thump. 

Climbing down the branches and jumping down the last one, Harry went to collect the squirrel. There, laying on the floor was the squirrel with a knife in its head. Grabbing the animal from where it laid, Harry turned around and tried to find a place with more cover. It didn't take long because he thought he saw something when he was getting water and he was right. There was a small hill of rocks that could give him enough cover to make a fire. Not only that but it also narrows down the area he has to pay attention to because right now, he has a full 360 degrees to cover. 

Placing the squirrel on the floor, Harry went to collect a couple of fallen branches and leaves. The bad thing about making a fire in the daylight is that the smoke might attract people, but then if he made a fire at night, the flames will  _also_ attract attention. Harry thought he could risk daylight, plus to lower the risks more, he tried to collect branches and leaves that weren't as dry so it will create less smoke. 

Piling up the leaves and branches, Harry grabbed two stones and tried to spark a light. The pain of not having matches. After 5 minutes of no avail, Harry decided to cheat a bit. Magic. He knew there were cameras  _everywhere_  so he had to be really careful. Shifting a bit from where he was sitting, he continued to try sparking a flame. After three pretend tries and making sure the rocks were close to the pile, Harry willed the pile to set on fire. Not long after, a flame arose and Harry took a breath. 

He tried making fires before, many times. Most of the times, they just burst into flames. If his pile did that, then it would cause a lot of suspicions. Especially when there wasn't any oil or other aid for the flame to catch so suddenly. Smiling a bit at his piece of work, he started preparing the squirrel. By the time he was done, the flames were dancing and from that, it didn't take long for what's left of the squirrel to get on the fire. 

Once the squirrel was cooked, Harry extinguished the flames and scattered the burnt up pile. He was planning to stay close to the river, no use telling people that he was there, by leaving a used campfire. Once he was sure that the spot was clear, he climbed onto another tree before starting on his food. By the time he was done, the sun was setting, lighting the sky with a mixture of reds and orange. Harry didn't do anything else after, except climbing from tree to tree trying to find the best spot that would give him cover for the night. 

When he did, the sun was mostly down and he was settled snugly on the branches. His body inside the sleeping bag and tied to the tree branch. It was then, did he let his mind wander. He wondered if Katniss was okay, he really hoped so. She was a fighter and the first thing that was agreed on was to flee the bloodbath. Harry had faith that she was alive. He knew that she would aim for the woods so he could only hope to somehow find her in a while. He didn't have any other plans, the bloodbath should be done ages ago so the Careers should have control of the Cornucopia. He wondered how many people died there, they should know soon enough. 

Most of the people should be in the woods as it provides most cover, so Harry knew that he should keep being on the move. He didn't know how many rivers there were, but if this was the only water source apart from the lake he saw by the Cornucopia, then it should be swarming with people soon. If all the tributes were along this river, then it would be easy to bump into someone and Harry wasn't ready to bet that they would be Katniss. 

It was then he remembered the other Hunger Games, there weren't only tributes to worry about. If the Gamekeepers thought that the games were getting too boring, they would set out other dangers. Endless possibilities course through his mind but after a while, Harry cut them off seeing as they were taking him nowhere. They were safe today most likely as the bloodbath should entertain people enough. However, tomorrow would be another story. If they were lucky, and the Gamekeepers were in a good mood, nothing will be released but if still, nothing happens... He's willing to say; they will be in big trouble. 

Cutting off his dark thoughts, Harry decided that tomorrow, he will set off and keep walking along the river. All the while, keep hoping that he won't meet anyone who wasn't Katniss. 

With that thought, Harry heard the national anthem playing. The sky lit up and the words "74th Hunger Games" came first. Then not a few seconds later it disappeared and faces of the dead tributes appeared. Face after face came and went. Harry lost count after the first few, his heart racing as he prayed and hoped that Katniss' face won't appear. It was only after the anthem stop playing and the sky became dark again did he feel like he could breathe again. 

Laying there under the fake stars, Harry wondered if Katniss was like him. Praying that his face would not be the next to come up and wondering where he was. His thoughts circulated on and on, but after a while, he closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! The 74th Hunger Games! Some action! We're finally here! After 4 chapters this week! (The most I have written in a week, gosh!) The first day of the 74th Hunger Games. I'm not sure how long it lasted but I'll just write whatever comes to mind. Probably shorten it or something, not exactly sure (maybe I should just read a summary on Wikia). 
> 
> Also, I'm not exactly sure of the backpacks. In my mind, they're quite small and not filled to the brim so that was how I wrote them as. Also, I have this theory about wizard and witches getting too used to using wands, that if they started without, it would also be manageable. That or I've been watching too much Merlin and I nearly added the golden flash of eyes when casting magic (maybe I should! Idk.) 
> 
> Just have to get this out there that Merlin is a brilliant show, I love it! Thus recommending it now. I wanted to write a story about BBC Merlin (along with Sherlock, Doctor Who, Rick Riordan's stories), but seeing the number of ideas I have piling up and no time to write, I think I'll put those ideas on hold. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Jane


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